All the wines we'll taste occupy a sort of periphery, whether geographically, stylistically, or both -- and they all use methods that respect their vineyards (yes, most are working or certified organic and biodynamic). Highlights include Pinot Noir from the producer who re-legalized red wines in the Mosel after Nazi rule(!) And more:

The Château de Saint Cosme estate lies in the heart of Gigondas where 15 hectares of vineyard grow in the shade of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain. The property has been in the hands of the Barruol family since 1570. Louis Barruol took over from his father in 1992 making a dramatic shift to quality and converting to biodynamics in 2010.

It's quite possibly the most famous white wine in Italy, and not just because a) Dante named it (true-ish!) and/or b) that it's fun to walk into a wine store and order it like this. (Please don't.) While there's an entry-level version of Soave that's pleasing and simple and quenching in the sunshine, that's not the half of it. Because there's a whole 'nuther Soave: wines that are age-worthy, & exquisite, rivaling the best of Burgundy for richness, texture, and complexity.

The producer that's considered one of the benchmarks, if not thebenchmark? Prà. Graziano Prà owns 37 hectares of vines in Veneto’s two most famous winemaking areas, Soave Classico and Valpolicella, and is justly reputed as one of Italy's greatest winemakers. This Thursday? We're thrilled to announce that Prà's Diego Corradiis in the house!

We'll taste Prà's four different Soaves, starting from his entry-levelSoave Classico Otto up to the oak-aged, ultraripe Colle Sant’Antonio. All are organically farmed on classic, very black, volcanic soils, which impart an underlying power and minerality to the wines. But it's not all about the power! As Ian D’Agata writes, “Prà is especially adept at ensuring the wines also showcase a remarkable degree of finesse.”

While Prà may be best known for his whites, it's possible his reds may be an even bigger revelation! His high-elevation vineyards have a high percentage of active limestone; while most wines from this region are about power, ripeness and brawn (especially Amarone) Prà’s wines are marked by brightness, freshness and a mineral core. These are terroir-driven, brain-pausing, soul-dilating wines. We'll be tasting the entire set, and every time we do? We feel the same way Italian wine critic Antonio Galloni does: "Perhaps the best thing I can say about this estate is that I always have a hard time selecting the most noteworthy wine in the lineup."

This section of the email is meant to be accompanied by this song. (We'll wait here while you click and come back.) Oh hey there, back already? Bum stiggedy bum stiggedy bum... FX Barc himself is in the house this Thursday night at Vine!

Having been the winemaking wizard behind one of Chinon's premiere estates (our own Kermit Lynch's famed Charles Joguet!), Monsieur François-Xavier Barc decided to leave in 2010 to create his own project,Complices de Loire. Rather than spend dumb money on his very own castle and estate though? He decided he'd rather work with his network of badass farmer 'complices' (accomplices) - and make amazing wine at affordable prices.

And that's just what he and his merry band of complices have achieved! Join us this Thursday as we host FX Barc. He's pouring SIX of our most beloved (and delicious) values in the shop: FX Barc's Sauvignon Blanc, his Chenin Blanc, his Vouvray, his "Jus de Gamay," his Chinon, and a value-priced Pinot that makes most Sancerre rouges blush in shame.

The last time you met Rachel Miers , the owner-importer behind Rachel Farah Selections, she'd just begun importing her small production, family-owned, food-friendly Portuguese stunners. A year later (and a few more trips to Portugal)? She's come back with an even bigger suitcase!

This Thursday, she'll pour 5 Portuguese wines brand new to this coast! Perfect for the Bay in May, we'll taste a Champagne method sparkling rosé, 3 zippy and saline whites, and a red so fresh we could throw it on the barbecue.

Desire lines: also called, variously, cow paths, pirate paths, social trails, kemonomichi (beast trails), chemins de l’âne (donkey paths), and Olifantenpad (elephant trails). These are the paths animals take without regard to the paths that were made for them. Some view them as evidence of animals’ unwillingness to do what they’re told; others (insufferable academics, mostly) see them as a “record of collective disobedience.”

Us? We view them as what happens when the heart leads reason across a patch of earth. Which is why there's no better name for the new winemaking project started by Cody and Emily Rasmussen: Desire Lines.

Cody, assistant winemaker to Bedrock's Morgan Twain-Peterson, may be a quiet guy, but in the very, very short time his wines have been available? They've made a whole lot of noise. The species known as the Mild-Mannered Wine Nerdlinger - you know, the type more prone to talk about which type of tobacco leaf they're sniffing in a wine (is that brightleaf, or Latakia?) than they are to use an errant exclamation point - are exploding out of their cranial nerd-containers. Like here, and here, and here!

This Friday? We're beyond thrilled to introduce you to Cody, and to his wines. Come join us, so you can tell your grandkids you were there when.

Back by popular demand! Julie Tesar, Solano Cellars alum and current wine genius for Skurnik Wines is putting on a show to help you live your best quasi-summer life: fresh fun & fabulous Italian favorites. We’ll taste five drool-worthy wines for only $10. 5:30-7:30pm this Thursday at Solano Cellars.

"Albino Rocca is one of the most interesting estates in Barbaresco right now." -Antonio Galloni, Vinous

"We know." -Us

When Angelo Rocca tragically passed away in 2012 in a small plane accident, Barbaresco lost one of its most distinguished grower-producers. He was at the peak of his powers, and acclaimed for producing some of the most exciting, terroir-driven Nebbiolo wines in the famed region.

What happened next? His three daughters (Daniela, Monica and Paola) picked up where he left off... and many Piedmont-lovers think that not only have the wines not skipped a beat... they may be even better.

We're beyond thrilled to host Daniela Rocca this Sunday at Elmwood. We'll be pouring her affordable, black-cherry-toned Dolcetto. Her world-beating Barbaresco. And the Moscato d'Asti you're going to want to finish every meal in 2019 with. These are outstanding examples of Piedmontese wines... and fairly priced ones to boot!

Come In and Rocca Out.Daniela Rocca in the House!This Sunday! 4-6 PM!Only at Elmwood!

And tomorrow at Vine St.? Megan Glaab of Ryme Cellars andUphold Wines is in the house!

More seriously and less humptiliciously? Megan and Ryan Glaab are some of the most interesting winemakers working in CA right now. Having met (and fallen in love) while in Australia while working at Torbreck, they went on to a) get married and b) work together at places as sexy as Pax, Peay, Sine Qua Non, and Marcassin.

But in 2007, they launched their own winery: Ryme Cellars. These are some of the most talked-about, most-grabbed, and most-glugged Cali wines in our stores. (Most famously, perhaps, they make a "His" and "Hers" version of their Vermentino; while they agree on most things, how to make Vermentino is not one of them!)

Ten years later, they had another vinous baby: Uphold Wines, a project designed to effect positive change. Each wine is devoted to a different cause and organization, but 100% of all profits go to people fighting the good fight.

At Vine St., from 5:30 on Megan Glaab is in the house, y'all! She's pouring 6 wines, including at least three Rymes and at least three Upholds!

We're not surprised! When Victor Coulon, the man behind Domaine de Beaurenard (one of our most beloved Châteauneuf-du-Pape estates, period) comes to town? People have a way of changing their calendars up.

But as thrilled as we were by the response, we were also slightly sad to think that there were legions of you who wanted to try the wines... but couldn't. So we added a pre-prandial event!

So though you can't join us for dinner (this time around)? (Unless, of course, you were one of the lucky 40 who got seats?) You can come join us from 5:30 - 6:30, when we'll pour a lineup of some of the greatest wines made in southern France.

The Ciù Ciù (pronounced, yes, "Choo Choo") estate started in 1970: as a beyond small, family-owned winery with respect for the land and sexypants wine as its twin core philosophies. Fifty years later? It remains as it ever was.

Situated in the rolling hills of Le Marche’s Offida region, a medieval citadel overlooking rolling hillscapes, Ciu Ciu is right at the beating heart of some regions you've never heard of... but can't wait to meet: Rosso Piceno Superiore! Falerio dei Colli Ascolani! Offida! (None of those were insults, btw.)

This Friday at Elmwood, come taste, Italian wine expert Nico Gallucci joins us as he pours five of the award-winning producer's organic wines: Pecorino! Passerina! Sangiovese!Montepulciano! These are affordably priced, 100% organic, and some of our favorite bits of Italian esoterica.

All Aboard the Ciu Ciu Train.Friday 4/19! 6 PM!Only at Elmwood! Only $5.

Local winemakers are determined to bring the culture of Vermouth to California, and they are killin' it! This Friday at Vine Street, our local Vermouth virtuoso, Christian Deitch, will be pouring a line up of Cali vermouths!

First, we'll try two from Vermina, culled from dozens of barrels of organic Palmina wines, infused with botanical bounties gathered from the backroads of Santa Barbara County.

Next: Poe's Mommenpop Vermouth project and try both the Vin d'Orange and the Vin d'Sange (aperitif style vermouth made from a base of Pinot Noir and infused with blood orange, black pepper, and a secret blend of spices).

Last: Matthiasson's Sweet Vermouth No. 3! Made of 100% Flora, a cross between Semillon and Gewurtztraminer created at UC Davis by the legendary Harold Olmo back in the 1950’s (Matthiasson's theory is that Olmo bred it specifically for fortified wines!)

Okay, it may not have the same romance as Gladys Knight's midnight train. But a) you'll get better sleep, and b) you're going to taste some of the most amazing and ancient wines on the planet.

Present-day Georgia, south of the Caucasus Mountains and between the Black and Caspian Seas, is Vinous Ground Zero: this is likely where humans domesticated the grapevine! (Dear Georgia, the world would like to apologize to you here and now for Yellow Tail, and other bottled abominations.)

One of Georgia's rising start? Kakha Tchotiashvili. A specialist in native grapes, he farms organically and vinifies in qvevri (the traditional Georgian terracotta vessels; see above).

We're tasting three of his wines beginning with a medium bodied fruitful exotic red made from Tavkveri. A brooding spicy full bodied red made from Saperavi. And a Rkatsiteli: a white grape turned orange/amber in hue, from 6 months of contact with the skins and stems. (Though it's made from white grapes, it's more tannic than the reds!)

These are special wines. Come join us and Stetson Robbins, founder of Black Lamb Wines, as we board the train to... 8000 years ago in the Transcaucasian region! (You can see why Gladys Knight went with her lyrics, instead.)

At Vine Street this Wednesday 4/3, we are psyched to have Spanish winemaker Noelia de Paz in the house!

Noelia, otherwise known as LaOsa, will be joining us all the way from her home in Castilla y León to pour a line up of her delicious wines (some of which are seeing California for the first time!).

Noelia fell in love with León’s native grape varieties among her family’s vineyards and when their winery later closed, she embarked on her own project, LaOsa. Noelia sources fruit from farmers using traditional vineyard practices and in order to preserve the authenticity of the land and to produce wines that provide a true sense of place. It is Noelia's masterful expression of these native varieties that have earned her the title “Queen of Albarín and Prieto Picudo”.

Is Albarín the same as Albariño? Never heard of Prieto Picudo? Join us tomorrow night to taste these special wines and have all of your questions answered!

Barm·y /ˈbärmē/ (adjective: informal, British): mad; crazy. i.e.,"Once I tasted a proper Gewürztraminer? I went absolutely barmy for the wines of Alsace."

In actual point of etymological fact? The word "barmy" actually has nothing to do with the Barmés-Buecher winemaking family of France's Alsace region... but it could!

Because these are wines of place, purity, and distinction.Barmès-Buecherfarms biodynamically, and are as beloved by the coolio kids as they are by the classicists. (Including the wine mags, whotend to froth at the mouth about them.)

There's a man simultaneously blowing up Instagram feeds up and down the coast... and who also puts his grandma's high school graduation photo on his Grenache.

Meet Craig West: a regular Elmwood customer from way back... who's now the toast of Bay Area natural winemaking! We're proud to say we were Invoice #1 for the guy who's now being poured at wine bars all over town!

Working locally in the same collective as Chad Hinds (Methode Sauvage) & Noel Diaz (Purity Wines), Craig's making natural Californian delight-bombs that are as wildly affordable as they are, well, wild. Fresh, livelyWines for drinking, not overthinking.

This Saturday, from 3-6, the man himself will be in the house! He's pouring his "Adaline" Grenache, his "Managua" Syrah, his "Erotic City" blend... and debuting his electrifying "Freak Show..." a wine he sneak-previewed us on at Brumaire... and bottled just for us!

Julie & Xavier Gonet-Médeville: often called "the First Couple of French Wine," we think of them as more akin to the Wonder Twins: two oeno-superheroes who joined forces for the benefit of the Global Vinous Good!We're honored to host one half of the dynamic duo, as Julie comes to pour an all-star line-up of five of her wines!

Julie's family owned one of Bordeaux's oldest and most impressive estates, the incomparable Chateau Gilette; Xavier came from a long, long line of Champagne growers and makers in Le Mesnil. Together? The Wonder Twins bring us some of the greatest treasures we know, from all over France.

Julie's pouring what amounts to the quintessential quintet of her family's wines. Her organic, micro-production, Premier Cru Champagne. Their stunning and affordable Bordeaux Blanc. Our customers' favorite "Monday night Bordeaux," their Cru Monplaisir. Their sexy-pants Chateau des Eyrins Margaux. And just because we love you and we told her you're worth it? She's going to pour you a splash of her benchmark Sauternes as well!

Wine trends come and go but Bourgogne has been at the top for almost a thousand years. Come by and taste the wonderful wines from Burgundy. We will have a couple of unusual wines as well as some classics. 5 wines for $5.00 (FREE for a Club Member and one guest).

They describe Sulauze as "more than a vineyard" - and that's an understatement. This is a biodynamically tended paradise of Provençal polyculture. With 30 hectares planted to vine, 2 hectares planted to barley (they make beer in a 300-year-old sheepfold), two hectares planted to wheat (they make regionally famous bread), 5 hectares of olive trees (because Provence). They use no chemicals anywhere, they plow by horse, and the whole is just about as close to your fantasy of southern France as you'll ever damn see.

It doesn't hurt that these two are as goddarn cute, funny, and spirited as winemakers come! Guillaume is the head viticulturist, winemaker, and sausage-maker. (Not a metaphor: they have delicious home-made sausages drying in their cellar.) Karina is the force of nature that handles the rest of the estate: a full-fledged farm that raises many animals and grows a wide range of crops. (Oh, yeah, and she also happens to be an Olympic tri-athlete originally from Brazil!)

These are some of our favorite wines (you may already know them from their Cochon - one of the most re-ordered club wines of 2018.... or their Jambonette, which is in this month's club pack)... made by some of our favorite people.

Tey'll be pouring every bottle we could pry away from them. Their "Super Modeste" bubbles. Their "Galinette" blanc. Bien sur, our beloved 'Cochon' and 'Jambonette.' And depending on whether it makes it through customs, the American debut of their 2018 "Pomponette" rosé!

They describe Sulauze as "more than a vineyard" - and that's an understatement. This is a biodynamically tended paradise of Provençal polyculture. With 30 hectares planted to vine, 2 hectares planted to barley (they make beer in a 300-year-old sheepfold), two hectares planted to wheat (they make regionally famous bread), 5 hectares of olive trees (because Provence). They use no chemicals anywhere, they plow by horse, and the whole is just about as close to your fantasy of southern France as you'll ever damn see.

It doesn't hurt that these two are as goddarn cute, funny, and spirited as winemakers come! Guillaume is the head viticulturist, winemaker, and sausage-maker. (Not a metaphor: they have delicious home-made sausages drying in their cellar.) Karina is the force of nature that handles the rest of the estate: a full-fledged farm that raises many animals and grows a wide range of crops. (Oh, yeah, and she also happens to be an Olympic tri-athlete originally from Brazil!)

These are some of our favorite wines (you may already know them from their Cochon - one of the most re-ordered club wines of 2018.... or their Jambonette, which is in this month's club pack)... made by some of our favorite people.

they'll be pouring every bottle we could pry away from them. Their "Super Modeste" bubbles. Their "Galinette" blanc. Bien sur, our beloved 'Cochon' and 'Jambonette.' And depending on whether it makes it through customs, the American debut of their 2018 "Pomponette" rosé!

Bodega Catena Zapata is a family-owned winery located in Mendoza, in the sub appellation of Agrelo, Argentina. The winery was founded in 1902 by Italian immigrant Nicola Catena, grandfather to the current winery owner, Nicolás Catena Zapata,

"Nicolás Catena Zapata is justly credited with putting Argentinean wines on the world map—by the best expedient of focusing entirely on quality. It's great to know he has started a wine dynasty, too." – Jancis Robinson, Financial Times wine journalist

Having worked with winemakers as illustrious (and as known-to-VB!) as Steve Edmunds, Elisabetta Foradori, Jean-Paul Brun, and Kenny Likitprakong? Erin Mitchell and her husband Randy decided they were ready to strike their own path.

With no winemaking facility to call home, they went guerrilla style, and set up shop in a jerryrigged barn up in Duncan's Mill. The results? Natural Californian wines that stun, made in micro-production sorts of quantities. (400 cases, maybe?)

Come meet the winemaker herself! She'll be pouring her “Spider Chase,” a Bordeaux blend from the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, positively loaded with herbal, olive-laced, earthy notes; her "Stowaway,” a vibrant mix of old-vine Zin and Carignan from outside Ukiah, bursting with a spicy sense of place; and her"Hatchling,” made from Sauvignon Musquè (a clone being brought back from the brink of extinction) made with a bit of skin contact. (And if you're nice? She may even pour some library vintages!)

This Saturday at Solano*! Please join Dr. Dana DePietro, Dr. Jeff Pearson, and Ti Ngo - archaeologists, educators, and mad lovers of the vine - on an epic journey through the world and wines of the Labors of Heracles.

That's right: the Big Guy himself! Because no ancient figure fascinated Greeks and Romans alike as much as Heracles (or Hercules, if you're Roman). While Heracles cameo'ed in myths innumerable, his most famous legend was undoubtedly that of the series of extraordinary Labors he was forced to complete in servitude to his rival, King Eurystheus.

We use the myth cycle as a leaping-off point, and will taste eight wines from the places Heracles visited during his Labors... along with small-food plate pairings as well! For only $60!

This Saturday*, from 6 - 8:30 PM at Solano! Come join us for a seminar that will be fascinating, delicious, and anything but laborious!

A Vacation in Spain – Relax and Taste the Sun.This is a great opportunity to taste and learn about Spanish wines. We will have a wonderful selection of wines from Sunny Spain. We will be joined by friend of the shop, and someone who knows how to set The Spanish Table, Margot McGrath.Five Wines for, $5.00 Club Members are FREE